Wide ports in Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface (SAS) systems may contain connections of different negotiated link rates. When arbitrating for an outbound connection from an initiator through a wide port having connections of different negotiated link rates, some of the intermediary connections may have lower negotiated link rates than the capabilities of the initiator and target device. Selecting a connection having a lower negotiated link rate than the required link rate can result in an open rejection due to an unsupported connection rate. In such cases, a retry may be required which slows down the connection process.
Therefore, there exists a need for improved methods and systems for managing the connection between devices through wide ports.